15 Facts About Rangzieb Ahmed

Rangzieb Ahmed is a British citizen who was allegedly the highest ranking al-Qaeda operative in the United Kingdom.

Rangzieb Ahmed was born in Rochdale in Greater Manchester and moved to the Kashmir area of Pakistan at the age of seven or eight.

At the age of 18, Rangzieb Ahmed was arrested by Indian forces after allegedly fighting as a member of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and was held in an Indian jail for seven years without charge; during this time Rangzieb Ahmed was allegedly tortured.

Rangzieb Ahmed was eventually released in 2001 and he subsequently visited the UK for a brief period of time before returning to Pakistan.

In 2005, surveillance by British intelligence revealed a diary in Rangzieb Ahmed's possession containing al-Qaeda contacts, with some contact details written in invisible ink.

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Second confrontation with the UK authorities occurred in 2007 when Rangzieb Ahmed was captured at London's Heathrow Airport following his arrival from Pakistan.

In December 2008, Rangzieb Ahmed was convicted in the UK of "directing the activities of an organization which was concerned in the commission of acts of terrorism".

Such a finding of guilt meant that Rangzieb Ahmed was the first member of al-Qaeda to be convicted for directing terrorism in the UK.

Rangzieb Ahmed was sentenced to life imprisonment and has been directed to serve a minimum of ten years before he is considered for parole.

Davis contended that the UK government allowed Rangzieb Ahmed to leave the UK and enter Pakistan, that Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence detained and questioned Rangzieb Ahmed under torture, and that British intelligence and police agencies had full knowledge of this.

Davis further accused the UK government of trying to gag Rangzieb Ahmed by preventing him from coming forward with accusations after his imprisonment following his return to the UK.

Rangzieb Ahmed argued that the trial judge should have halted the proceedings against him as an abuse of process.

Rangzieb Ahmed's allegations were rejected at his appeal hearing, his appeal dismissed and his application to have his case be heard by the Supreme Court turned down.

Rangzieb Ahmed has since applied to have his case reviewed by Strasbourg.

In October 2020, Rangzieb Ahmed brought a civil claim against MI5 for suggesting Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency arrest him in 2006 and collusion in torturing him by submitting questions which were put to him under torture in Pakistan.